(NY Times) In rapid succession, two dramatic decisions jolted the Sept. 11 case this summer: a plea agreement that exchanged life sentences for guilty pleas, and its reversal.
What happens next in the case is up to the judge, who has to decide if Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III had the authority to revoke the agreement days after the retired general he put in charge of the process signed it.
Mr. Austin declared that his only motivation was to make sure there would eventually be a trial for the man accused of masterminding of the attacks, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, and his co-defendants.
But his decision left the military judge in the case with a series of questions to resolve.
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